Remote Management using SSH and X-Forwarding

Our web server runs SLES 10. Initially we would always remotely control it from VNC, however this used up all of screen real estate and we could not cut and paste code snippets or other information between the local Windows computer and the remote SLES server.

I started using X-Forwarding and found it much easier to manage and control the remote server with it. For users who are running Windows desktops and are planning migration to a OES server this should make the process much easier.

Remotely Managing an OES or SLES server from a Windows PC using SSH and X-Forwarding

The most common way to remotely manage a Linux server is through the use of VNC to control the remote desktop. However this covers most of your screen and doesn’t usually allow cut and paste between MS Windows applications and Linux ones.

An alternative when you don’t need the full Linux desktop is to use SSH and X-Forwarding. X-Forwarding makes the Linux application window appear alongside your Windows ones.

It is also possible to set up the applications to run off a memory stick or the network by using portaPuTTY (http://socialistsushi.com/portaputty/) instead of PuTTY, this is a modified version that stores data in the folder instead of the Registry, so it will retain your settings between machines.

Once the programs are downloaded and installed, start Xming from the start menu. It should appear as an icon in system tray.

Open up PuTTY and type the IP or DNS address of the SLES / OES machine in the hostname field.

On left hand side click the “X11” option and tick “Enable X11 Forwarding”

Login using your account, then try opening a graphical program. The window should now appear locally.

Some benefits of X-Forwarding over VNC:

You can easily copy and paste text between windows. You can have your Windows text editor by side with your Linux one and copy and paste between them.

The remote screen doesn’t take up all your desktop space. You can have multiple file browsers or terminals open that are shown alongside other programs, making it easy to follow tutorials and online guides.

Uses less resources on server than running a complete Nautilus desktop

Connection is encrypted over SSH

Overall it provides a much more integrated environment than using VNC, and gives the feeling of using a single computer rather than remotely controlling another. This integration facilitates migration to OES and makes managing work flow much easier.

Disclaimer: As with everything else at SUSE Conversations, this content is definitely not supported by SUSE (so don't even think of calling Support if you try something and it blows up). It was contributed by a community member and is published "as is." It seems to have worked for at least one person, and might work for you. But please be sure to test, test, test before you do anything drastic with it.